***. The cruise lines plan their itineraries to mitigate this risk. This is known as ship swapping. This card comes with a long list of benefits, including access to Centurion Lounges, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott, at least $500 in assorted annual statement credits and so much more. 2023-2025 OCEAN CRUISE AND AIR SAVINGS: Offer applies to bookings made from March 1-31, 2023. Unlike ocean cruising, river cruising has a lot of fluctuations in water levels. This 'placeholder booking' means nothing he assured us. I had insurance and filed a claim. Viking changed our flight schedule at very short notice. The river flows are falling so if you are booked for a cruise this year, check with your cruise line and obtain their current assessment of operating conditions. In June, there were places along the Po that completely dried up. The US gov has basically declared the "plandemic" over and all other mandates have been drop but Viking still won't change their policy. I specifically mentioned this scenario when I used the voucher and we were told as long as it was 120 days before departure we could rebook using our voucher. Then in Philadelphia Very disappointed with Viking River Cruises - Fodor's Cruise Line Travel Requirements - Cruises.com That trip was cancelled do to covid, and we were assured by Viking that everything was fine and we rebooked for Jan 2022. More details in attachment. BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. Thank you. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. It is time for Viking to do the same and act like a cruise line instead of a medical facility. Schreiners advice is simple: Just go. "Given recent developments and the developing conflict in Ukraine,. The guest services lady said well you can complain at the Share your photos and videos with others to prove the truth of your words. They refuse to accept the fact that they changed the terms of the contract. They just decided to keep our hard earning money. service we should have received at least a partial refund . Instead, in the most extreme cases, AmaWaterways will create a new itinerary. Enrollment required. Because there was no time for a further delay, we paid the tickets to the airline. We were routed to resolution manager who was extremely obnoxious, rude, disrespectful, wasn't listening to the issue, saying 'yes, ok, sales rep make a mistake, mistakes do happen. Viking refused to admit to us that we were misinformed, and did not apologize, but their policy will not change. Viking Cruises. See what a point or mile is worth with our appraisals of a loyalty programs currency, based on redemption values. If water levels are low, cargo ships cannot carry their normal loads of freight. This may involve the cruise line putting you up in one or more hotels and paying for restaurant meals. Viking Neptune is a new ship that will join the fleet in 2022. Feb 1, 2023. Last week, the cruise line cancelled all 2022 departures on its Kiev, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary and said it was evaluating 2022 sailing that call in Russia. This happened 52 days before sailing. I ask if I could have the number to her managers boss she said no. Viking Chief Health Officer Dr. Raquel . Bookings with more than 30 persons Conference bookings made by Customers Service and Sales Department Bookings paid by invoice by companies Companies with annual agreements Bookings with more than 5 hotel rooms The specific conditions that apply to your booking can be found in your . View all of our Luxury Cruise sailings and offers. . Learn more. Weve been cruising since March with no issues until August, said Schreiner. Compare the cost in points or miles to cash, and see which option is best. It is a basic human right to be able to have access to flushing toilets and handwasting facilities. This was really One of the most popular rivers, the Rhine has river levels falling fast. We paid for the trip and had trip insurance. We Vikings inability to resolve an issue with, Withholding of monies and shore excursion, Refusal to honor its cancellation policy, My bag is still missing and I will request. Europe is experiencing unprecedented drought and heat conditions. For every day that is altered, AmaWaterways guests will get 50% of the daily rate they paid as a future cruise credit. Please view our privacy policy for details about the information we share with our partners. Guests will have 24 months to select their new date and use their Risk-Free Guarantee Future Cruise Voucher to make a new reservation on any river, ocean or expedition cruise. The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship, A beginners guide to picking a cruise line, The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship, A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines, 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly, 12 best cruises for people who never want to grow up, The ultimate guide to what to pack for a cruise, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Verification can help ensure real people write reviews about real companies. Risk-Free Guarantee: How it Works Tauck says it deals with compensation on a case-by-case basis. American Express has expanded The Centurion Network to include 40+ Centurion Lounge and Studio locations worldwide. A drinks package at the original cost, when I first tried to book it. Viking collects 3 fares for a 2 person room. If you are booked on a river cruise for later this year, do not make any snap decisions. I booked the flight through Viking to a Christmas market river cruise. We booked a Viking River Cruise with AAA travel in August of 2019 for $14,497 for two people which excludes the insurance cost. Europe Is Reopening For Vaccinated Travelers: See It Via These Viking Here is a message that appears on the Viking River Cruise webpage: The cruise line may elect to cancel your cruise. Credit ranges are a variation of FICO Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application. Voyages offering the excursion to Floriade 2022 operate between July 16 and August 27, 2022 aboard River Empress. We rebooked the trip for 10/12-10/23/22. Another section of river that can be negatively affected by low water levels is the Danube, past the last lock in Slovakia heading downriver toward Hungary. From now through March 31, 2022, Viking is offering special rates starting at $599 (not including airfare) on all 2022 and 2023 departures. We called Viking and there is nothing that they will do to be able to use the over $7,000 paid for the trip. Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have canceled several trips as the Omicron variant continues to wreak havoc with the cruise . over night stay we got back to Cincinnati the next day. We never sign or agree to sail with vaccines passport as requirement.No one respond our emails or our attorney except a woman name ******************************* that behaves like an iron wall to talk to anyone else. It was too windy and not safe so decided not to try to use their tender. A place on the excursion I tried to book. How the Coronavirus Might Impact My Upcoming Viking River Cruise, Update: My Viking River Cruise And Their Coronavirus Response, Reivew: Nile River Cruise on the Grand Princess Amwaj. Thanks for reaching out, Itom, although we regret to learn of your experience with booking excursions. Look at the Mekong you dont cruise in May, June, July and August because its too hot. We rebooked our trip but Viking canceled it again and another voucher was issued. We have spent $25,000.00 including air far which we are also going to lose if not used by 12/31/2023. Vikings' policy allows no refund under the circumstances (i.e. I want Viking to honour its Guest Cancellation Schedule and reimburse the $15,640.19 (Canadian) my husband and I paid for the We appreciate you sharing your experience, Sandy JJ, although we regret to hear of the events you've described here. Viking Cruises will test all guests and crew for COVID-19 with daily PCR testing when sailings resume, as part of the company's new Viking Health & Safety Program, the cruise line recently announced. Not enough for the money hungry cruise line. Sandi. Viking Cruises cancels 2022 Kiev and Black Sea sailings The area is protected and thats where you have the low water issues. Check with your cruise line on current cruising conditions and what you can expect from them. I used my airline mile and hotel points to travel well and cheap. 4. The dire news youre reading about low water levels in Europe now, especially along the Rhine River, mostly concerns the cargo shipping industry in Europe. But it is for us. There are no uniform river flows and water levels are unpredictable. Maximum capacities of 164 passengers and 47 crew. Withholding of monies and shore excursion booking system failure. Schreiner does not hold with that assertion because river cruise lines simply adjust their schedules year after year for optimal weather conditions. We booked a January 2021 cruise. By. Desired outcome: Labeled Verified, theyre about genuine experiences.Learn more about other kinds of reviews. The plane returned to the gate and he was transported to the local hospital. Passes which had been canceled since BA flight had been late. If ships have to lighten their loads to cross shallow water, fewer goods can be transported at once. They offered us a voucher for 125% or a cash refund. Instead, in the most extreme cases, AmaWaterways will create a new itinerary. Call us at 800-454-0927 to speak to a Cruise Concierge today. You dont know a week or 10 days in advance what will happen with the water levels. Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPGs editors and is not influenced by the card issuer. We were treated like animals. 1. Viking Cruises, and Other Lines, Changes Plans Because of Ukraine News They may run multiple ships back-to-back where you would transfer to another ship where the river is having navigational issues. ************************************* Cruises that was set to sail in April 2020. If, however, we forfeit the ******* spent in anticipation of this vacation, Viking would loose us as customers, but as a sophisticated internet user, my wife will use her homebound time posting this saga on as many travel sites as possible. The Risk-Free Guarantee allows guests to change their cruise date up until 14 days before their planned departureand Viking will waive any fees. This was told to me by two separate employees. On April 7, Virgin Voyages updated its advisory that all regular Scarlet Lady cruises are canceled through September 17, 2021. My bag didn't make it. 2023, International Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., separately incorporated Better Business Bureau organizations in the US, Canada and Mexico and BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, Inc. All rights reserved. Airfares vary on other gateways & departures. Then when operations started again, we decided to book a cruise to sail November 2021 At the time we booked, vaccines were not a requirement. Yazmin Hope and Libby Gallagher This they If you voluntarily cancel your cruise you may only get a partial or no refund depending on how close to departure you cancel your cruise. Later after giving our deposit (another $8,000) we found out that ******** become a requirement to sail.My husband and I, both for health reasons can not get the vaccines and Viking to this time has been holding our money ($11,367.50) for 3 years (going to the 4th) even when we have requested several times and even hired an attorney to get our money back.When we booked the 2nd cruise, no one told us that we will loose our chance to get a refund. A recent CNN article proclaimed that summer droughts like the current one, plus global warming, could signal a death knell for river cruises in the near future. Dozens of cruises have been cancelled and some ports in the Caribbean and South America are turning ships away from making . We have since then tried to book a trip two times, and the required medical of a vaccine status made us cancel again. Seldom travelers may not get enough value to warrant the cost. When Viking River Cruises canceled my cruise in 2021 for Covid, they gave me a cruise voucher for 125% and some optional packages as an incentive to rebook. Check here before booking an award fare. At 104 days out before final payment was due, we had to either lose our entire deposit of $2K+ or get a voucher. The line said it was also evaluating 2022 itineraries that call in Russia with the view to modifying them where necessary. In this case, you will receive a full refund of your cruise fare. ComplaintsBoard.com is a leading complaint resolution website on the Internet. NEVER BUY A VIKING CRUISE VOUCHERWe will be sailing with a different cruise line and will not be back to Viking. We were informed by the booking person at Viking that we could change the date as necessary for as long of period of time, even years down the road. We opted for the voucher. Posted September 18, 2021. Well guide you through the process. Find out how we combat fake reviews. Viking is probably the most unsympathetic/unprofessional company I have ever experienced. Viking Cruises cancels 2022 Black Sea and Kiev (Ukraine) sailings Viking River Cruises: Reviews, Complaints, Customer Claims Our trip was canceled and a voucher was issued. Since the ships are nearly identical, if you do transfer to another ship, you should be in a similar stateroom as the original ship. There are critical points, like the one on the Rhine River, right in the Rhine Gorge, Schreiner explained. Oceania officials said Russian and Ukrainian ports would be removed from 2022 itineraries, while Viking River Cruises canceled . We will not be booking with Viking again. Viking Cruises, and Other Lines, Changes Plans Because of Ukraine News To go on the cruise people do not have to supply a negative covid test so you still go on the cruise in theory even if you have covid. We want our money back since we will never met the requirements to sail and we never agree to those requirements, Our booking number is XXXXXXX and is associated with ********************* ********. When I asked to speak with a supervisor the "customer service" representative said "I am not allowed to transfer you - the supervisor will give you the same answer." This is insulting and is clearly bait and switch type behavior. What? Viking Shores and Fjords - SEPT 2021 - Cancelled? NEW! This matter has not been properly escalated to the legal department.Our time is running off to recover our money and we can not travel due the vaccines requirements and the only absurd respond that we get is to transfer our vouchers.We are extremely disappointed of Viking Cruises after we decided to support the company. It's a human right to have access to fresh water and clean sanitation. SA. Karin Price Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. Due to Covid pandemic our cruise got cancelled. Then they said (under the Risk Free Guarantee) we could have a voucher, but it would be a combined voucher which could only be used for one future trip. Maybe 10 years from now we cruise the Danube and Rhine in January/February/March and we stop in the summertime because August is too hot and there are low water areas., We dont know what the future will bring, he continued. River cruise cancellation fears loom as Rhine threatens closure But there is nothing we can do, your vouchers have expired'. by Steve CaseLast updated September 6, 2022. Each time I received a pro forma answer saying "it is company policy that future cruise credits have no cash value and cannot be refunded or exchanged once booked." The river cruise lines will tell you that low water levels are rare, and that few sailings are altered due to water levels but the truth is the risk is always present. Ocean cruise ships usually have at least 25 feet or more or more of draft which would preclude them from river cruising. the Lufthansa person told me I need to fill out the form required for returning Americans to USA and she was not helpful .I missed my flight and had to stay overnight to a dingy hotel in tears in a French country who doesn't really want to help you . Wouldnt that booking choice make it clear to Viking that pre and post excursion bookings would also require separate beds? I won't be booking any future cruise with them. I had to cancel due to ill health and provided over five months notice. European Cruise River Levels Are Falling To Critical Levels - Travel Codex We have had to cancel our river cruise because of their ludicrous covid policy. Do not book with Viking Cruises ,they turned my cancelled trip into vouchers with expiration dates that I never knew about. If the water issues are closer to the beginning or end of an itinerary, cruisers may have to spend a few days in hotels or bussing to destinations rather than sailing there. They would fly to Italy and take an 8-day Viking River Cruise called . Pharaohs & Pyramids. They refuse to let us rebook with the voucher and actually suggested if we want to rebook we would have to pay them all over again. This site is for entertainment purposes only. On 12/20/20 Viking cancelled this cruise. We said yes. They refuse. Vikings inability to resolve an issue with their on line booking. Here's our experience with the Viking cancellation policy. We are told now that change is not possible at all because vouchers have expired. The 766-mile Rhine is one of Europe's most important trade routes, with container ships plying their way around its looping bends.